Flame and Soul
by oni-neko ninja
Summary: Post-Promised Day, 1918. Roy asks Al to meet with him so he can share something private with the younger alchemist. Roy/Al fluff. Day 1 of "Rare Pair Week."


Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just borrowing Arakawa-sensei's characters for a little while.

Prompt: Day 1. "I have a confession to make."

A.N.: The title is a WIP. It may change later, I dunno.

Time for some "Rare Pair Week" fun. It's stupid, but I found out about this only recently, and I want to do some stuff for it. Most of them will probably stay one-shots, but I may expand a few at a later time.

I apologize ahead of time if any of the characters are OOC at all.

And I originally meant to post this on Mon. (9/5)... but I was busy all day that day and had no time to get online before now, so I also apologize that this one is so late. If I do this event again next year, I'll try not to let life prevent me from posting on time again.

Anyway; on to the story ^^;;

* * *

Roy had asked Alphonse to join him at a café in Central. He was currently sitting on his own in a small booth with an open file of paperwork in front of him.

It wasn't very long before a certain voice caught the colonel's attention.

"Hey, Colonel. Sorry I'm late," Al was a bit embarrassed, apparently thinking he was behind schedule.

Roy put the file aside and stood to greet him properly, shaking his head briefly in dismissal as he offered a hand in greeting. "Don't worry about it. I was just trying to get a bit of extra work done — you know how the Lieutenant can be."

Al shook the offered hand with a smile. "I doubt she'd _actually_ kill you over a late paper... but I know where you're coming from... so~. You're actually doing paperwork willingly?" His tone was teasing as he peered over at the file on the table with a smile.

Roy rolled his eyes good-naturedly as they both sat. "...indeed." He fixed the file he'd brought so it'd be easier to gather up later, then straightened up to give Al his undivided attention. "I _do_ like living, you know."

"I can't imagine why," Al laughed, deciding to tease him a bit here. "Besides; if you die, who'll compete against Major General Armstrong?"

Roy hummed in thought. "True... she might try to bring me back just to call me an incompetent asshole and say something to the effect of having given her somewhat of a challenge."

"How _dare_ you die because of some _stupid_ mistake? You coward!" Al finished for him in an intense voice, imitating the General in a joking manner, before his attitude turned a bit skittish. "...but if word ever gets out that we're kind of mocking her, she may very well send one of her men to murder us in our sleep."

That thought got them both looking around warily to check for potential Armstrong spies. A moment of paranoia passed before they realized they were probably fine, and both relaxed.

"What can I get for you gentlemen?" a waitress piped up after a couple minutes.

Al thought for a second. "...could I get a cup of earl grey and a glass of milk?"

"Sure." She smiled, then looked at Roy. "And for you, sir?"

Roy shifted a bit in his seat to get more comfortable. "I think I'll take some green tea, please."

"Coming right up!" She noted the order and disappeared.

The conversation picked back up while they waited for their drinks. Small talk was had and they caught up on recent events.

Eventually, though, Al asked a question that raked at Roy's nerves, although it didn't _quite_ show on the surface... but that's only because he was good at hiding his true feelings.

"...so... Why did you invite me here? ...if I may ask."

"Ah. Well... if nothing else, I wanted to catch up and see how you were doing, and you've clearly adjusted well to being 'normal' once again."

"I wouldn't say I've adjusted _well_... just that I'm getting more used to being flesh and blood as time passes. I still duck through some doorways, you know," Al said, poking a bit of fun at himself.

"I can picture it." Roy half-smirked. But Al's question of why they were there stayed in Roy's mind... and the thought of answering it made the smirk fade shortly. He took a sip of his tea in an effort to calm down before continuing. "...and, actually, Al... I must confess to something," he added. "I didn't want to meet with you _just_ to catch up on life..."

Al simply looked at him curiously. Roy was reminded of an observant cat.

"What did you want to meet for, then...?"

"...I wanted to... ah..." He couldn't look directly at his fellow alchemist at this point. His nerves were inching ever closer to the proverbial window... He was just thankful that Al stayed as quiet and patient as ever. He was also, however, _really_ beginning to wish he'd asked Riza to help him rehearse how to go about this beforehand.

...apparently, he'd paused for too long, as Al was starting to worry.

"A-are you feeling okay, Colonel?" Al half stood up in the booth and reached to touch Roy's forehead.

Roy unconsciously jumped a bit before Al could touch him, and a faint blush brushed over his cheeks.

"You have a bit more color in than usual..." But then Al realized. ' _That isn't "ill" coloring... he's blushing?_ ' he wondered to himself as he sat back down.

Roy lowered his head until his face was no longer visible to Al. He mumbled, "I'm an idiot... how can I expect to run a country if I can't even get this one simple thing out?"

"If you're this bent up about it, I don't think whatever it is could be that simple," came Al's reply.

Roy almost wanted to bang his head on the table, he was so frustrated at his own stupidity. He took a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself.

As he looked up and around himself, Roy noticed by chance that Riza had entered the café. He excused himself and made a not-quite-mad-dash for her.

"Riza, I need your help," he said to her in a hushed voice.

"I say this partly jokingly; sir, I'm on break," she responded.

"I'm aware, but..."

She suppressed a sigh. "What do you need?"

"...help me figure out how I'm going to tell..."

"Alphonse that you love him?" she finished.

"How do y — never mind."

Riza raised a brow.

"Just help me."

"What would you like me to help you with regarding that, sir?"

"What should I say?"

"I have three simple words: I. Love. You."

"Riza, I didn't know you cared," he responded in a joking tone.

"Be serious."

"I know... I do... I'm just —"

"Really, really nervous?"

His expression alone asked her, ' _Do I need to say it?_ '

Roy was unaware that Al was coming over to see what was taking so long, and if everything was alright. Riza _did_ notice, though, and tried to cue to Roy a few times that he should shut up, but he was so out of it that he was ignoring her signals.

"How can I just tell Al that... I love him?" Roy asked before he realized who was listening.

"I hate to break it to you, sir, but..." She pointed behind her commanding officer.

He turned to find Al standing a few feet away from them, staring at him in some amount of shock.

"...you love me?" the younger alchemist repeated.

At that point, Roy looked back at Riza. "You were trying to warn me."

"M-hm."

"And I didn't listen."

"Yes, now, go talk to the lion-fox.* I will see you at work," she said as she turned to leave.

Roy faltered briefly before looking at Al. "The Lieutenant can be a tad frightening sometimes... shall we go back to the table?" he asked, having noticed then that Al seemed a little unsteady on his feet. He decided quickly to simply guide Al back to the booth and move the tea away from Al's side of the table as a precaution before sitting as well.

It took a long minute for Al to fully process the new information... and even once he had, he was still caught between surprise and confusion to a degree.

"...did you just tell me, unintentionally, that you love me?" Al asked, finally actually looking at the man across from him.

Roy was blushing some at the thought. "...mm-hmm..."

"What... brought this about?" Al was curious now.

"...you... being you." Roy paused briefly to try to gather his thoughts. "I mean... you're an incredible person, Al. You've been through so much, and yet, you're still one of the kindest, sweetest men I could ever meet. And I'm — just — shut me up right now. I'm making even more of a fool out of myself."

Al couldn't help but chuckle a little — even if it practically made him see drooping dog ears on Roy's head as the elder looked away in embarrassment. This caused Al to stand as much as he could in the booth. He cupped Roy's face in his hands and leaned forward until their lips met in a kiss. The action caught Roy off guard, and he was more surprised to find that it was somewhat slow but still brief, to the point where they both needed a minute when Al broke it.

"...no," Al said as he sat back down, "You're not being silly. You're being very sweet." He cupped his hands around his teacup now.

"...is it safe to assume... by that kiss... that the feeling is mutual...?" Roy felt the need to ask.

"No, I just felt like kissing you," Al replied sarcastically. He was smiling genuinely, though, as he lifted his left hand and rested his chin on that fist. "What do you think?"

"I think... that the fox side of your personality has come out to play."

Al chuckled a bit again, the smile sticking through the sarcastic tone, "That does tend to happen sometimes. I'm not just a sweet cat-lover."

"Oh, no, trust me, I know that... Don't get me wrong; I love that part of you, but, um... okay, I'm shutting up." Roy almost looked like he wanted to shrink in on himself.

Al's smile turned sympathetic, although it was his turn to blush at Roy's words. "It's okay to be embarrassed."

"I _do_ know that..."

"...not used to it?"

"You could say that."

There was a brief quiet between them before a thought crossed Roy's mind. "...may I ask... where'd you learn to kiss like that?"

"I remember Mom once doing that to Dad when he had gotten flustered about something. Now, before you think I'm weird, I only recall having seen it for a minute, but the effect it had on Dad... Well, we've seen the result."

Roy hummed. "Very effective, Mr. Elric."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Mustang." Al laughed, but then he realized something. "...we aren't telling Brother about this for awhile."

"If I had it my way, we wouldn't tell your brother at all, but he'll find out eventually... Plus, regardless of our arguments, I _do_ like Ed, and want to stay on his good side. I'd want it be that we told him rather than that he found out."

"I agree, but the last thing you said before translates roughly to, 'I don't want automail in my face.'"

"Basically, yes." Roy gave a curt nod.

"Then again... I can't blame you. We've all seen what Brother can do with that automail." He smiled nervously.

"Indeed," Roy said, then finished his tea.

Al wasn't far behind on that front. He glanced at his watch.

"Do you have to go back to the office, or...?" Al asked out of curiosity.

"Hm?" Roy blinked. "No, actually. Not for awhile. Why do you ask?"

"Want to go for a walk in the park? It's nice out today."

Roy smiled. "Sure. I haven't done that in awhile."

With that said, they paid, and left for the park to extend this meeting into a little makeshift date.

* * *

* I see the Elric brothers as being part lion, part fox. I don't know why.

This ended up being longer than I'd originally thought... xD;


End file.
